And out of it the world was made. For Darkness alone is worshipful, and the Lord thereof (Melkor) may yet make other worlds to be gifts to those that serve him, so that the increase of their power shall find no end"

Welcome to the Light

Serpenteye: Still considering your letter and talking with allies.

Archcleric Hazen sends a message to Lord Kalanyr:

"Welcome to the Light, Kalanyr. Truly you have shown that the brave and loving heart can rise above any darkness. I am humbled in the knowledge of your enlightenment. May you be a source of light for all those who grapple with darkness in their souls."

"I know that you are concerned about Lord Forrester. I will talk with him myself. I believe he should be given a chance to explain himself. I have no desire to have Oerth be a colony of any world. We must ultimately work out our own destiny and our own salvation."

"I have devoted my life to my people, my land, my world and my god Rao. I ask that you let me serve as a mediator between you and Forrester. I misjudged some of your intentions in the past. Were I a wiser man, I would have given you and your allies evidence of what I learned. Perhaps bloodshed would have been avoided."

"Perhaps Forrester mispoke. Talk with him in private. I know that you love Oerth as I do. If you or your people need my aid, you shall have it."

"I have received some reports from the scientists of the UC of Toril. It seems that the matter of the multiverse is held together by "weak" and "strong" forces. I am still trying to grasp this strange field called quantum mechanics. However, I did tell one of their scientists that they should perhaps simplify their theory. For is not the multiverse held together by love?"

"Let us hope that our power will not outstrip our wisdom and compassion."

"On behalf of those you aided, I thank you. Kallden risked all for Oerth the beloved. Kas needs compassion, perhaps you can aid him. He payed a high price for opposing Vecna, risking body, mind, and soul. I pray that Queen Yolande and Prince Melf are alive."

"Lord Kalanyr, I welcome you as a guest to my home. After the dead are mourned, we will celebrate the courage of those who opposed Vecna. Heward will provide a rare musical performance. The mystical organ will be left at home."

Last edited by William Ronald; Wednesday, 6th March, 2002 at 09:21 AM.

Olinstaad Corond sitting in his throne contemplating the message from Kalanyr while getting drunk on dwarven ale.

"Darn coal looking elves, all elves might as well be beardless gnomes! All ways pullin' some crazy stunt to make ye head spin. But I'd rather have em at me side than behind me where I can’t see em. Them coal elves so dark anyhow, might not be seeing them no matter where they stand!"

A MESSAGE FROM THE MODERATOR

Forrester has said:

EVERYONE ELSE.
I'd like to point out that I have a 500PL force with an offensive value of '6'. Auto-kill.
You have smaller forces with Defensive values of '1'. Maybe you can hike those up to '2' or '3' if you're defending at home.
Or maybe you can't, given the fact that I can see through all of your traps with 10th level magic and teleport my troops wherever I want.
It would be fair to say that if you're not a buddy of mine, you are probably wondering whether we can have peace until you manage to get your claws on 10th level magic.
And that's a very very good question.
And I have an answer.
If you help me research 11th level magic (that is, put at least 20% of your PL into research, or 20PL, whichever is greater), I would have very very little reason to attack you in a fit of pique.
You'll make it up in Industrialization, I'm sure.
On the other hand, if you don't . . . well, enough said about that.
Not that I want to be threatening. I'm just giving people an idea about how they can become a Good Neighbor.

Lord Forrester

- - -

THE MODERATOR SAYS:

It is not my fault, folks, that you donated over 200 PL to Forrester, to give him 10th level magic.
It is not my fault, folks, that you allied with Forrester.
It is not my fault, folks, that you protected Forrester.

It is not my fault, that Forrester chooses to demand tribute from you.

And it is NOT my fault that Turrosh Mak quit.

Now, there is a saying in America: When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
The going has gotten tough.

This is a WAR.
A struggle for dominance and supremacy on the world of Oerth.
Are you going to let other Powers push you around?
Are you going to lay down and give up?

Or are you going to unite and fight, to win?
To win, not for your allies or for your friends, but for YOURSELVES?!

You are here to win this war, for YOU!
So you can stomp every other Power down into the dust, and reign supreme over both Oerth and Toril!

If I WAS one of you, I know what I WOULD be doing, and it would involve strong words and stronger actions.
Did Vecna go out without a fight?
Did Vecna lay down and die?
Or did he, knowing he was overwhelmed because he could not regenerate his forces, decide to go out in a blaze of glory??

The people of Oerth, whatever else they are, are ferocious, merciless, and war-hardened fighters.
They don't roll over and play dead for anyone.
They want to KILL the enemy, not deal lightly or pleasantly with him.
And they choose who is the enemy is.

- - -

Oh yes, I want you all to know - VECNA IS NOT DEAD.
You can't kill a lich by destroying his physical form!
His spirit just goes to his phylactery and regenerates a new body!
The phylactery is in the hands of the Shade, safe and sound (and no, 10th level magic cannot locate it, since it is protected by 10th level magic.)

Therefore, your Moderator is still in play.

Vecna, returns to the field, alone.
10th level magic and all.
And he isn't lying down and playing dead for ANYONE.
He always hated the Torilians, and he hated all the Powers for allying with the Torilians.
He offers to stand with any alliance that will stand against the Torilians.

Vecna is, ultimately, out for Vecna, for Number One, but right now he is willing to put all grievances aside so he can kill the hated Torilians.

Edena_of_Neith

P:S He wants his Staff back, too, and if Acererak doesn't willingly give it back, Vecna intends to come and take it by force.

The good realms allied with Forrester, which is all right and good, and probably what they would have done in 'real' Oerth too. So now Forrester is omnipotent, but that's not my issue

Instead, my post was prompted by my trying to make my template, and coming up utterly blank.

Anything I try can be quite easily countered by Forrester (who instantly knows about it), simply by teleporting 2% of his army on top of my head and killing me, and there's not a damn thing I can do about it. And if we're playing 'real', the next thing Forrester *would* do is obliterate me, the Solistarim and the Dark Union, and possibly Kalanyr. Which he could do, with little effort.

Forrester, from the start, had some very big advantages. Far better technology than 95% of the people, a huge PL, no need to spend PL on advancement (as he got +-100 PL reinforcements every turn anyway). I believe there was little to balance this, except maybe the Wanderer's message, which the UC's allies brushed aside.

I made some spasmodic attempts to repeat that message, but by that time his allies would have been nuts to pay it any attention I tried to cut off his reinforcements using that message, but the borderguard laughed at me... I could see this coming since turn 1, when everyone allied with him, I just thought it would take slightly longer.

I literally have no options left. David vs. Goliath is one thing, but if Goliath had been a mecha-droid with polarized hullplating and plasma-cannons, little David would have been up excrement creek with an anvil grafted to his ankle

If I were in charge, for the sake of keeping the game interesting, it'd be Big Red Button time... Make some retroactive, arbitrary decision which is probably extremely unfair to Forrester, but will let everyone else keep playing.

--------------

Acererak of course obliges Vecna with his staff (hopefully after having learned something from it)